My buddy Tony Swink, author of the presently slumbering Get Swinked! (he's on his own case about that, don't worry) asked me today if the previous post I wrote about Dragon Naturally Speaking was about something that I use or if it was "a hack job."

Sort of both: I would use the software if I had it, but that post was another blatant moment of profit.

When I do paid posts, I see my RSS numbers drop. They're not much anyway, but I can still see them notably decrease very time I put up a canned post. Well, "canned" isn't quite the correct term because I do try to select advertising opportunities that actually square somehow with my experience and interests, but when it comes down to it, with few exceptions I take whatever I can get.

People don't like that. I know, and I don't care. Think of it as advertising on the radio, or on your television. You can partake of either of those things for free (I'm not speaking of the subscription versions of these things, mind you) because the producers are able to sell ad time to vendors. Think of it like those "free" newspapers you can find in various places - it's only free to you because it isn't free for the people who have advertisements in those publications.

I look at those paid posts I do in the same way. Not everything I do here makes money (like this post), so in between original content I sprinkle some commercials. That drives some people away, but that's ok because it's profitable for me anyway: to date, I've spent $45 on this blog, but I've grossed over $1,000. That's a return that I can accept your scorn for.

So, bear with me. If you have a thing against paid posts, just scroll past them, I don't care. I get paid for writing and posting those pieces, not for you reading them. But if you're one of those die hard "I don't allow ads on my screen" types, you know the old saying: "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." Well, your displeasure doesn't beat my profit margin, so join me!